JP2005110745A - Ultrasound endoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

Even if the insertion portion has a structure in which a balloon feeding path through which a liquid fed into the balloon passes and a balloon drainage passage through which the liquid discharged from the balloon passes are inserted and disposed in the insertion portion over the entire length. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic endoscope that can be formed with a thin outer diameter, can reduce the entanglement between built-in objects, and can ensure electrical safety of a connecting portion reliably and simply.
A balloon liquid feeding path 6i and a balloon draining path 6o are formed by a flexible multi-lumen tube 6 in which two independent flow paths are arranged in parallel in one tube.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscope.

In general, an ultrasonic endoscope is provided with an optical observation unit and an ultrasonic probe at the distal end of a flexible tubular insertion unit, and a balloon that can be expanded and contracted is inflated in an ultrasonic scanning direction by the ultrasonic probe. A balloon feeding tube through which a liquid fed into the balloon for inflating the balloon passes and a balloon draining tube through which the liquid drained from the balloon passes to shrink the balloon are provided in the insertion portion. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-63-111840

  In an ultrasonic endoscope, in general, a large number of built-in items such as an air / water feeding tube, a suction tube, or an optical fiber bundle necessary for optical observation are inserted and disposed throughout the entire length of the insertion portion. The tube and the balloon drainage tube are each formed as an independent tube, and are inserted through the entire length of the insertion portion.

  For this reason, the outer diameter of the insertion portion becomes thicker, and at the same time, the insertion portion tends to be tangled and easily damaged while the insertion portion is repeatedly bent in any direction.

  In addition, if a metal branch pipe or the like is used to branch-connect the balloon liquid supply tube and the balloon drainage tube to the flow path leading into the balloon near the distal end of the insertion portion, electrical safety Therefore, it is necessary to electrically insulate between the branch pipe and the surrounding metal parts in order to ensure the safety, which contributes to a complicated and large structure.

  Therefore, the present invention is capable of forming the outer diameter of the insertion portion narrowly and entanglement of the built-in objects even in a structure in which the balloon liquid supply passage and the balloon drainage passage are inserted and disposed over the entire length in the insertion portion. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic endoscope that can reduce electric power and can ensure electrical safety of a connecting portion reliably and simply.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic endoscope according to the present invention includes an optical observation unit and an ultrasonic probe at the tip of a flexible tubular insertion unit, and at least a balloon that can be expanded and contracted. A balloon liquid supply path through which a liquid fed into the balloon to inflate the balloon is provided, and a liquid discharged from the balloon to contract the balloon In an ultrasonic endoscope in which the passing balloon drainage path is inserted and disposed over the entire length in the insertion portion, the balloon feeding path and the balloon drainage path are separated by two independent channels in one tube. It is formed by a flexible multi-lumen tube arranged side by side.

  In addition, when there is one balloon insertion flow path leading into the balloon at the distal end of the insertion section, and the multi-lumen tube is directly inserted and connected to the end opening of the one flow path, A branch connection can be made without any use.

  In addition, the balloon feeding channel and the balloon draining channel of the multi-lumen tube may be separately connected to the water feeding operation valve and the suction operation valve that are juxtaposed to the operation unit connected to the proximal end of the insertion unit. Good.

  According to the present invention, the balloon liquid supply path and the balloon drain path are formed by a flexible multi-lumen tube in which two independent flow paths are arranged in parallel in a single tube. When the outer diameter of the insertion portion can be made thin and the entanglement between the built-in objects can be reduced, and when there is only one flow path leading to the inside of the balloon at the distal end of the insertion portion, the single flow is reduced. By connecting the multi-lumen tube directly into the end opening of the road, it is possible to perform branch connection without using any kind of branch member, thus contributing to making the outer diameter of the insertion part narrow and connecting at the same time The electrical safety of the part can be ensured reliably and simply.

  One tube is divided into a balloon liquid supply path through which the liquid fed into the balloon to inflate the balloon and a balloon drain path through which the liquid discharged from the balloon passes to contract the balloon. Two independent flow paths are formed by a flexible multi-lumen tube arranged in parallel over the entire length, and are inserted through the entire length of the insertion portion.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4 shows the overall configuration of the ultrasonic endoscope. An optical observation unit 2 for performing optical observation and an ultrasonic wave for obtaining an ultrasonic tomographic image are provided at the distal end portion of the flexible tubular insertion unit 1. Are arranged in a state of being connected in series with the ultrasonic scanning unit 3 for transmitting and receiving the light.

  A convex type ultrasonic probe 4 for performing so-called sector scanning is arranged on the side surface of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3, and the inflatable balloon 5 is inflated in the ultrasonic scanning direction by the ultrasonic probe 4. The ultrasonic scanning unit 3 is attached. The ultrasonic probe 4 may be of a type that performs radial scanning or the like.

  The optical observation unit 2 adjacent to the ultrasonic scanning unit 3 and connected to the rear side thereof is formed with an inclined surface 2a obliquely forward, and an optical observation window, an illumination window, and the like are arranged on the inclined surface 2a. The optical image in the ultrasonic scanning direction by the ultrasonic probe 4 can be observed.

  In the insertion portion 1, a multi-lumen tube 6 for passing a liquid such as degassed water that is fed and discharged into the balloon 5 in order to inflate and contract the balloon 5 is inserted through the entire length, The base end of the multi-lumen tube 6 reaches the operation portion 7 connected to the base end of the insertion portion 1.

  In the operation portion 7, an air / water supply operation valve 11 and a suction operation valve 12 are arranged side by side, and a liquid supply pipe 13 and a drain pipe 14 connected to the proximal branch portion A of the multi-lumen tube 6, However, the air supply / water supply operation valve 11 and the suction operation valve 12 are separately connected.

  15 and 16 are an air supply tube and a water supply tube connecting the air supply / water supply operation valve 11 and the external air supply / water supply device, and 17 is a suction connection connecting the suction operation valve 12 and the external suction device. It is a tube.

  In addition, the air / water supply operation valve 11 and the suction operation valve 12 are connected to an air / water supply tube, a suction tube, or the like that is inserted in the insertion portion 1 for use in optical observation. However, the illustration is omitted.

  FIG. 1 shows a distal end portion of the insertion portion 1, and the balloon 5 is formed of, for example, an extremely thin silicon rubber or the like, and has an O-ring shape in a circumferential groove formed at both front and rear ends of the ultrasonic scanning portion 3. It is fixed by a band 5a or the like. Reference numerals 9 and 10 are an observation window and an illumination window.

  Only one balloon communication channel 8 for sending and discharging liquid into the balloon 5 is provided so as to penetrate the optical observation unit 2 back and forth so that the tip opening 8a faces the balloon 5. An opening is formed on the side surface of the ultrasonic scanning unit 3.

  The multi-lumen tube 6 is a flexible tube in which two independent flow paths are juxtaposed over the entire length of one tube, as shown in FIG. 2 illustrating the II-II cross section in FIG. One flow path is used as a balloon liquid supply path 6 i through which liquid sent into the balloon 5 passes to inflate the balloon 5, and the other flow path from inside the balloon 5 to contract the balloon 5. It is used as a balloon drainage path 6o through which the drained liquid passes.

  The multi-lumen tube 6 is a flexible tube formed of, for example, a soft polyethylene resin, and is formed into a perfect circular cross-sectional shape as a whole. The multi-lumen tube 6 is second-order by a balloon liquid supply path 6i and a balloon drain path 6o. It is divided.

  And the front-end | tip part of the multi-lumen tube 6 is directly inserted in the rear-end part of the balloon communication flow path 8 whose cross-sectional shape is a regular circle, and is fixedly joined there as shown in FIG. Therefore, no branching member is required for the pipe branch connection at the tip of the multi-lumen tube 6.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the base end branching portion A of the multi-lumen tube 6 is joined to the branch member 60 formed of metal, plastic or the like by inserting and connecting the base end of the multi-lumen tube 6 from one side. The other ends of the liquid supply pipe 13 and the drainage pipe 14 are inserted and connected from the other side, and are fixedly joined.

  With such a configuration, by operating the air / water supply operation valve 11, deaerated water or the like passes from the liquid supply pipe 13 through the balloon liquid supply path 6 i of the multi-lumen tube 6 into the balloon 5 from the balloon communication flow path 8. Can be inflated, and the balloon 5 can be inflated. By operating the suction operation valve 12, the balloon communication channel 8 is degassed through the balloon drain channel 6o of the multi-lumen tube 6 to the drain tube 14 side. The balloon 5 can be contracted by discharging water from the balloon 5.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, For example, flow paths other than the balloon liquid supply path 6i and the balloon drainage path 6o may be provided in the multi-lumen tube 6 side by side. Further, the air / water supply operation valve 11 may have only a water supply function, or an operation valve that performs only the expansion / contraction operation of the balloon 5 may be used.

It is side surface fragmentary sectional drawing of the insertion part front-end | tip of the ultrasonic endoscope of the Example of this invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1 of the ultrasonic endoscope according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing of the proximal end branch part of the multi-lumen tube of the ultrasonic endoscope of the Example of this invention. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insertion part 2 Optical observation part 3 Ultrasonic scanning part 4 Ultrasonic probe 5 Balloon 6 Multi-lumen tube 6i Balloon liquid supply path 6o Balloon drainage path 8 Balloon communication flow path 60 Branch member A Base end branch part

Claims (3)

An optical observation unit and an ultrasonic probe are provided at the distal end of the flexible tubular insertion unit, and a balloon that can be inflated and contracted is provided in a state in which it is inflated at least in the ultrasonic scanning direction of the ultrasonic probe. A balloon liquid supply path through which the liquid fed into the balloon passes to inflate the balloon, and a balloon drain path through which the liquid discharged from the balloon passes to shrink the balloon pass in the insertion portion. In an ultrasonic endoscope that is inserted through the entire length,
Ultrasonic wave characterized in that the balloon liquid supply path and the balloon drainage path are formed by a flexible multi-lumen tube in which two independent flow paths are juxtaposed over the entire length of one tube. Endoscope. 2. The ultrasonic wave according to claim 1, wherein there is one balloon communication channel communicating with the inside of the balloon at the distal end of the insertion portion, and the multi-lumen tube is directly inserted and connected to an end opening of the one channel. Endoscope. The balloon feeding path and the balloon draining path of the multi-lumen tube are separately connected to a water feeding operating valve and a suction operating valve that are juxtaposed to an operating section connected to the proximal end of the insertion section. Item 3. The ultrasonic endoscope according to Item 1 or 2.

Images